2023 - Housing Connecticut Workshop
Andrei Harwell & Alan Plattus, critics
w/ Edona Murseli, Alex Thomas & U Jin Seah (YSOA), India Gupta (Yale SOM), & Bowen Chang (YLS)
Working with Saint John’s Roman Catholic Church and Columbus House, we helped re-envision an unused church school and vacant convent lot into 75 units of affordable housing, designed to be funded under 9% LIHTC guidelines. The proposal remediates the relationship between the Church and the surrounding block, creating accessible paths for parishioners through a busy intersection and creating a welcoming greenspace for residents.
Our proposal occupies both the existing school building west of the Church as well as the vacant former convent site on the east. This proposal can be further subdivided into two sets of structures that frame a campus-like green space at the site’s center. One on end, we propose a new extension to the building envelope of the existing school, replacing the 1980s CMU-framed fire stair and also creating a new accessible walkway from the Main St Parking Lot to the Church and the rest of the campus. On the other end of the campus are a series of townhouses that overlook the greenspace and in turn look toward the Church and the Arrigoni bridge.
We aim to reduce pedestrian barriers for residents and churchgoers alike, ensuring access throughout the campus. The new extension to the existing school cuts through the 4’ retaining wall separating the raised church site from the sidewalk and creates an entry to the church. This passageway also opens onto the amenity space in the school extension, creating a space that can be shared between the residents and the congregation.